Method of and apparatus for controlling battery chargers



Oct. 18, 1927. C. REANUEHL 1,645,720

METHOD orf AND1 APARATU;'FORGQNTROLLING BATTERY CHRGERS Filed-1 July 2o,1925i U LA'nQn l y SZWUWZQW..

I .l of charging has been finished 'Patented Oct.` '18, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL PFANSTIEHL, OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO PFANSTIEHLRADIO COMPANY, A CORPORATION OIE'A ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOB CONTROLLING BATTERY CH'ABGERS.

Application med Julyao, 1925. serial No. 44,862.

This invention relates to method of and apparatus for controllingstorage battery chargers and is particularly adapted to be used inconnection with a radio receiving set 5 of which the charger is a, part;

An object 0f the invention is to provide an eicient means for charging a-storage battery for a certain period of time and for automaticallydisconnecting the batter from the charger at the endV of said p erioAnother object isto provide a lmeans. for

use in connection with a radio receiving set,

' for charging the storage battery forming a part of the radio set and,when the `period to automatically disconnect the charger and to connectthe battery to the radio receiving set, so that during -the'period ofcharging the currentv from the charger cannot be applied to the jreceiving set and, after the period of charging is over the set will .bereconnected tothe battery so that it isready for operation without anyfurther manipulation. e' These and other objects are accomplished by theinvention which is fully described 1n the following specification andshown in the accompanying drawings` in which the figure is adiagrammatic view showing the controller shaft and 3 pers ctive.4

e embodiment illustrated comprises pri-v marily a controller shaft 10which is driven by an induction disk motor 11 through a suitable seriesof reduction gears 12,-13, 14

and 15 or` the like, the latter are shown as pulleys driven by means ofbelts 16 so as to permit slippage ater appear.

1 l. Cams 1718 and 19 of insulating material 4 are carried by thecontroller shaft 10, the

latter being j i not shown.l The cam 17 has a series of .cont tactfingers 20, 21 and 22 which are made of spring metal and are carried attheir upper end bymeans of an insulation block 23 which is rigidlymounted on the controller frame (not shown). The controller linger 21 isconnected by means of a lead 24 with one side of the alternating currentline-25 5 while the other side of this line 26 is connected through alead 27 with the induction disk motor '11. The other side of thismotor'isconnected through ale-ad 28 with-the controllerfinger 22. Thecontroller finger' 21 has an extension 21a bearing upon the the partscarried thereby in for a purposewhich willl ournaled in suitablebearings,

face the cam 17 which is concentric with respect to the controller shaftlO'except for the notch 29 which terminates in an abrupt shoulder 30.From the 'foregoing it will be observed that when the cam 17 is turnedso that any portion of its circular face lies beneath the extension 21aof the contact finger 21 this finger will be in electrical contact withthe finger 22, thereby completing the circuit through the disk motor 11and causing it to drive the control shaft 10.

The control finger 20 is connected by means of a lead 31 `with a batterycharger 32 of any well known type, the other side of the charger 32beingl connected through a -lead 33 with-the alternating current line26. So long therefore as the finger 20 rides upon the concentric surfaceof the cam 17 it is in electrical'contact with the central finger 21 andconsequently current will flow from the al2ternating line 25, 26 throughthe charger 3 e lAs shown in the figure, the control shaft 10 is turnedvery slowly in a clockwise direction and the lower end of the finger 20is about to drop off the shoulder 30. When this ha pens the finger 20will spring away from tie nger 21, thereby disconnecting the charger' 32from the line 25, 26.

As the controller sha-ft continues to relinger 20 so that with the twofingers 20 and -21 in the cam notch 29 no current from the i'ne 25, 26Hows to the motor 11 or charger 2. I

The approximate timing of the controller shaft 10 is accomplished byplacing a dial 34 thereon which is graduated ap roximately into -hoursand is rotatable beflbre a fixed marker 35 secured adjacent the edge ofthe dial to a fixed ,part of the apparatus.

The zero of the dial 34 corresponds to .the position just describedwherein the iinger 20 has just slipped over the shoulder 30 into thenotch 29 and the numbers 1, 2, 3

etc., corresponds to approximate hours of y charging. With the apparatuswhich will later be described, that which has been previously describedmay be used as part of a regular battery charging outfit.

Vmeans of pulleys14 and 15 and a belt 16.

As soon as the cam 17 has been turned sufliciently to raise the lingers20 and 21. so that they ride upon the circular portion of the cam,current from the line will drive the motor 11 and at the same timecurrent will pass through the charger 32. The motor 11 will thencontinue to slowly drive the controller shaft 10 in a clockwisedirection until the linger 2O again slips ott' the shoulder 30 therebydisconnecting the charger 32 and alittle later the end 21a of the linger21 also slips oil the shoulder 3() when the motor 1l will again bedisconnected from the line 25, 26-and Will stop. It will be observedthat in this much of the apparatus as has previously been described noconnection from the charger to the battery has been described, it beingunderstood that the charger is connectedto the battery in the usualmanner by direct leads.

The apparatus for simultaneously controlling the various connections tothe'battery, the charger and the radio set will now be described so asto make the apparatus much more complete and automatic in its operation.l

The cams 18 and 19 are the same in tornA as the cam 17. The cam 18operates a switch having lingers 36, 37 and 38 which are held as to beselectively in Contact with the in a rigid insulating block 39, thecentral linger 37 only making contact with the face of the cam 18. Thiscentral finger 37 1s connected through a lead 40 with the positiveterminal of the battery 41, while thevnegative terminal of -this batteryis connected through a lead 42 with the central finger 43 which bearsupon the face of the cam 19. The contact fingers 44 and 45 are ses acedel 43 depending upon whether this finger ri es upon the circular part ofthe cam 19 or is in the depression 19.

The fin er 36 is connected through a lead 46 with the positive terminal47 of a radio set 48, while the linger `44 is connected through a lead49 with the negative terminal 5 0 of the radio. set 48. 45v areconnected to the positive and negative terminals of the charger 32.

It will be observedthat the shoulders of the camsv 18 and 19 are set tooperate at substantially the same time and that the fin rs 37 and 43will slip oi these shouldersV alier the finger 20 has assed'over theshoulder 3) of the cani 17 an before the end 21 of the nger 21 hasreached the shoulder 30.

The fingers 38 and Thus, with'the motor .11 and the charger 32 inoperation, the latter charging the battery 41 as is shown in thedrawing, the linger 20 1s operated first and disconnects thechargswitching the battery 41 back on the radio set 48.

Thus it will be understood that the charger 32, the battery 41 and thiscontrolling apparatus may be made a part of the radio receiving set. Tocharge the battery 41 for a period of tive hours for example, when theshaft 10 is standing in the normal position with the fingers 218, 37 and43 at the bottoms of the notches-in the cams 17, 18 and 19, the operatorturns the dial 34 untilthe numeral 5 of the graduations is beneath thepointer 35. The contact fingers 218,' 37 and 43 wih then be riding uponthe circular portions of the cams, the charger 32 will char e thebattery 41 which is then complete y discon-v nected from the set 48until such time as the motor 11 will turn the controller shaft 10' untilthe contact lingers 21a, 37 and 43 again have passed over the shouldersof the controller cams. set after it has been placed on the charger, theoperator turns the dial 34 in a clockwise direction until Athe fingers21, 37 and '43 have passed over the shoulders of the cams when the batte41 is again back on the radio set 48, at w ich time the dial 34 standswith its zero point substantially beneath or a little to the right ofthe pointer 35.

While I have shown and described but a single embodiment of thisinvention, it is to be understood that it is capable of manymoditications. Changesl therefore in the construction and arrangementmay be made which do not depart from the spirit and scope of theinvention as disclosed in the appended claims.

lI claim:

1. In combination, a storage battery charger, a source of alternatincurrent, a motorV driven/by said source o current, a cam driven by saidmotor, a switch operable by said cam, said switch being adapted to passelectric current from said source to ,said charger and motor for apredetermined period, to disconnect said charger from said source at apredetermined point in said cam, and `to disconnect said motor from saidsource at alater predetermined point.

2. In combinationy# a storage battery charger, a. source of alternatingcurrent, a

If itis desired to use the radio motor driven by said source of current,a cam driven by said motor, a switch operable by said cam, said switchbeing adapted to pass electric current from said source to said chargerand motor for a predetermined period, to disconnect said charger fromsaid source at a predetermined point in said cam,

and to disconnect said motor from said source at a later predeterminedpoint while keeping said charger disconnected.

3. In combination, a load, a storage battery, a storage battery charger,a source of electric current, manually operable means for switching saidstorage battery from the load to said charger, said means including acontroller shaft and a motor operable from said sourcel of electriccurrent for driving said shaft, cams on said shaft, switchesoperable bysaid cams, one of said switches connecting said motor to said source ofcurrent for a predetermined length of time, another switch controllingthe connection between said charger and source of current, and anotherswitch operable to switch the battery connections from the load to thecharger and backv to the load.

4. In combination, a load, a storage battery, a storage battery charger,a source of electric current, manually operable means for switching saidstorage batter from the load to said charger, said means including acontroller Vshatt and a motor operable from said source of electriccurrent for driving said shaft, cams on said shaft, switches operable bysaid cams, one of said switches connecting said motor to said source ofcurrent for a predetermined length of time, another vswitch controllingthe connection between said charger and source of current, and anotherswitch operable to switch the battery connections from the load tothecharger and back to the load, said last mentioned switch taking placeafter the charger is disconnected from saidline.

5. In combination, a load,.a storage battery, a storage battery charger,a source of electric current, manually operable means for switching saidstora ebattery from the load to said charger, said means including acontroller shaft and a motor operable from said source of electriccurrent for driving said shaft, cams on said shaft switches operable bysaid cams, one of said switches connecting said motor to said source ofcurrent for a predetermined length of time, vanother switch controllinthe connection between said charger an source of current, another switchoperable 4to switch the. battery connections m the loadl to the charg-`switch and operable b er and back tothe load, said last mentionedswitch taking place after the charger is disconnected from said line,and means for preventing said cam shaft being reversely rotated throughthat portion of its revolution when the shifting takes place.

6. -In combination, a load, a storage bat-` tery, a storage batterycharger, a source of electric current, manually operable means forswitching said storage battery from the'load to said charger, said meansincluding a controller shaft and a motor operable from'said source ofelectric current for driving said shaft,- cams on said shaft, switchesoperable by said' cams, one of said switches connecting said motor tosaid source of current for a predetermined length of time, anotherswitch controlling the connectionbetween sald charger and source ofcurrent, another switch operable to switch the, battery connections fromthe load to the char er and back to the load, said last mentione switch-taking place after the charger is disconnected from said line, and aknob on saidl shaft graduated to indicate the approximatefhours ofcharging before said cams/operate said switches. 7. In combination, aload; a storage battery therefor, a storage battery charger, a source ofalternating current, a'lmotor operable by said current, a shaft drivenby said motor, cams on said shaft, a'switch (mer-- able by one of saidcams for connecting said charger to the source of current for aredetermined length of time, a secondswltch operably connected tol therst mentioned the same cam for controlling the operation of said motor,and switches operable by the other cams for switching' said battery fromtheload to the charger durin the time the charger is in o eration and orswitching the battery from t e char er back to the load after thecharger as been disconnected from the source of current. :1;1-, f

8. .In combination, al battery charger, a source of alternati!ig'ieectric v'current, a cam, a motor for driving vsaid-cam, a switchvoperable by said cam, said switch being adapted toA pass electriccurrent from said source to sai charger and to said motor to operate thesame, and at a predetermined point in said cam to disconnect saidcharger from said source, said cam then operating to stolp said motor.

' n testimon whereof I have hereunto set my hand an seal this 11th dayof July,

CARL PFANSTIEHL.

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